This invention relates to PTCA Balloon Catheters and in particular to a catheter, and process for making same, to minimize breakage of the tip of the guidewire.
Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) balloons and guidewires have been used for sometime now in the alleviation of stenosis of coronary arteries rather than open heart surgery for many situations. While highly effective in proper applications the procedure has an infrequent but potentially serious complication from breakage and retention in the coronary vascular tree of the tip of the angioplasty balloon guidewire. The seriousness of this problem can be better appreciated by a review of the article "Improved Method for Transcatheter Retrieval of Intracoronary Detached Angioplasty Guidewire Segments" in volume 17:248-251 (1989) of the Catheterization Cardiovascular Diagnosis Journal.
In order to be able to maneuver the angioplasty balloons to appropriate locations in the coronary vascular tree, the tip of the guidewire must be very small in diameter and highly flexible, so it can be properly maneuvered by the attending physician. This has resulted in the use of very finely drawn wires where the tip of the guidewire is reduced to a few thousandths of an inch in diameter, typically three, which permits easy bending and guiding through the artery system. It also however, becomes a weak link in the equipment which occasionally can be damaged or broken leaving a small piece of guidewire in the artery of the patient. Since the long term effects of leaving such a foreign object in the artery is unknown, many doctors prefer to perform the retrieval procedures that are described in detail in the above referenced article rather than take the risk. This subjects the patient to additional trauma which can be eliminated by use of the apparatus of the present invention.